Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

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Thoglette
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Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Thoglette » Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:20 pm

It's not just us: Senator calls for speed restrictions on mobility scooters

Nationals senator John Williams wants mobility scooters limited to top speed of 6kph
ABC News wrote: he said his wife's injuries were serious and she had undergone surgery for a total hip replacement.

"[She] took literally one step out of the office and the gopher hit her," Senator Williams told ABC radio after the accident.

"One of the staff looked out and all she saw was Nancy literally airborne and she landed on her left hip and just smashed her left hip to pieces.

"What if she had landed on her head? I could be preparing for a funeral."
(earlier edition of the news quoted him as saying scooters went as fast as 35kph, this has now been redacted by the ABC. Where's senator Hanson when you need her? :-) )

Unlike bicycle retailers, the mobility scooter retailers were quick to riposte

Senator's claims of speeding mobility scooters are 'rubbish', retailer says
ABC News wrote: But Peter Fraser from retailer Scooters Australia said the senator's claims about high speed scooting were inaccurate.

"It's complete rubbish," Mr Fraser said.

"He's completely out of his depth."

Mr Fraser said all states in Australia had mandated top speeds of 10 kilometres per hour and imported scooters had to meet that standard already.

He said mobility scooter speed limit regulations in Australia were tougher than those that apply in the United States and parts of Europe.

"Just because Senator William's wife was injured in a mobility scooter accident is no reason to change the law to suit one politician," Mr Fraser said.

"Where will that lead us?

"In 2011 more people were killed falling off chairs in NSW than were killed in mobility scooter accidents. Does that mean we should ban all chairs?"
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Mububban » Fri Sep 08, 2017 2:11 pm

Thoglette wrote:Mr Fraser said all states in Australia had mandated top speeds of 10 kilometres per hour and imported scooters had to meet that standard already.

He said mobility scooter speed limit regulations in Australia were tougher than those that apply in the United States and parts of Europe.

"In 2011 more people were killed falling off chairs in NSW than were killed in mobility scooter accidents. Does that mean we should ban all chairs?"
[/quote]


Is there a dark seedy underground community of the disabled and the elderly who gather in secret to modify their scooters to do burnouts in the bingo hall carpark?

35kph is a decent pace for a cycling commuter on the PSP. I've never seen a gopher that looked to be faster than 10kph. So how did this poor lady get airborne???
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Cyclophiliac » Fri Sep 08, 2017 3:09 pm

What bothers me is that such idiots get elected to influential political positions, but then I guess the USA has us beat in that department.

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Cheesewheel » Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:18 pm

Mububban wrote:[


Is there a dark seedy underground community of the disabled and the elderly who gather in secret to modify their scooters to do burnouts in the bingo hall carpark?
In our neighborhood there used to be a chainsmoking old lady who would tear around at speeds of about 20 km/hr or more ... although she only ever engaged in hyperdrive mode when she was driving with the flow of traffic on the road. A perennial cigarette and 1000 yard stare helped give her the persona of armoured reinforcements on their way to the battle of the bulge .... irregularities on the road and the lack of suspension on her scooter would almost throw her out of the scooter
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby trailgumby » Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:43 pm

Cheesewheel wrote:In our neighborhood there used to be a chainsmoking old lady who would tear around at speeds of about 20 km/hr or more ... although she only ever engaged in hyperdrive mode when she was driving with the flow of traffic on the road. A perennial cigarette and 1000 yard stare helped give her the persona of armoured reinforcements on their way to the battle of the bulge .... irregularities on the road and the lack of suspension on her scooter would almost throw her out of the scooter
:lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby PA » Sat Sep 09, 2017 12:48 pm

I had a friend who had hotted up a scooter. Can't remember the speed it did but it was very quick.

What annoys me is the speed they do in their Gophers inside shopping malls. Inside they need to be limited to 5 kph maximum.
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby uart » Sat Sep 09, 2017 3:10 pm

PA wrote:I had a friend who had hotted up a scooter. Can't remember the speed it did but it was very quick.

What annoys me is the speed they do in their Gophers inside shopping malls. Inside they need to be limited to 5 kph maximum.
There are probably not that many of the elderly users who are speed hacking them though. They currently are limited to 10 km/hr.

I find it interesting that, depending on where you are, there are two different majority users of these things. Last week I was visiting a small regional town and the vast majority of users there were the elderly. Around here however I'd say at least 50% of them don't seem to have anything wrong with them other than being massively obese.

Funnily enough I was listening to a comedian a few weeks ago commenting on exactly this thing, he referred to them as "obescycles" :D
Last edited by uart on Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Scott_C » Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:00 pm

uart wrote:I find it interesting that, depending on where you are, there are two different majority users of these things. Last week I was visiting a small regional town and the vast majority of users there were the elderly. Around here however I'd say at least 50% of them don't seem to have anything wrong with them other than being massively obese.
I have wondered about that because in WA in order to be counted as a pedestrian you must be "a physically disabled person in an unmotorised wheelchair or in a motorised wheelchair". Under the definition in the WA Road Rules a person without a physical disability in a wheelchair (motorised or not) doesn't count as a pedestrian (to the best of my knowledge you don't have to be disabled to count as a pedestrian when riding in a wheelchair elsewhere in Australia).

I wonder if every person using a motorised wheelchair in WA is legally categorised as being physically disabled because I can see an enterprising lawyer challenging their status in court in the event of an accident.

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby uart » Sat Sep 09, 2017 7:16 pm

Scott_C wrote:I wonder if every person using a motorised wheelchair in WA is legally categorised as being physically disabled because I can see an enterprising lawyer challenging their status in court in the event of an accident.
Yeah it's a good question. If you're obese enough to be mobility challenged though, then I guess that would still be a legitimate physical disability.

Also, I might have been a little bit unfair to say "don't seem to have anything wrong with them other than being massively obese", given that other causes of limited mobility could easily lead to obesity. It's just that when they first came out many years ago, almost all the people that I used to see were either elderly or clearly disabled, but these days I see mostly younger to middle aged people that are massively obese.

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Shred11 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 8:43 am

uart wrote:I'd say at least 50% of them don't seem to have anything wrong with them other than being massively obese.
Strangely enough, it seems to me that many people who can't (or won't) move quickly under their own power feel a need to compensate by driving any motorised transport excessively quickly and aggressively. Some of the most scary "MGIF" behaviour I encounter on the road seems to be from large people who would struggle to waddle 100m under their own power.

Speed limiting motorised wheel chairs may be part of the solution, but it's really a matter of attitude and consideration for others. 5km/h is still too fast for some situations.

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby uart » Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:05 pm

Shred11 wrote:Strangely enough, it seems to me that many people who can't (or won't) move quickly under their own power feel a need to compensate by driving any motorised transport excessively quickly and aggressively.
Touche. :)

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Meanwhile, at the National's conference.

Postby Thoglette » Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:49 pm

From the don't-let-the-facts-get-in-the-way-of-a-good-story department, the Nationals have, well, done something.

Nationals back push to lower speed limit on mobility scooters
Anna Henderson wrote: A Nationals senator's push to reduce the speed limit on mobility scooters to 6 kilometres per hour has been endorsed at the party's federal conference, but a disability advocate warns it's a "dangerous" policy that would make it difficult for riders to cross roads safely.
...
One of the organisers of the Hervey Bay convoy and member of the local Safe Scooter Committee, Julie de Waard, said the lower speed limit endorsed at the Nationals conference was "dangerous".
Julie then goes on to endorse helmet laws for scooter users... :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby trailgumby » Sun Sep 10, 2017 11:24 pm

It's the usual thing with the media.It gets alot of press because it's unusual.

Meanwhile, 1500 a year die on our nations roads and each fatality barely rates a column inch.

Values inverted much? :x

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby fat and old » Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:18 am

On that linked article...
Convoy organiser warns against lower speed limit

One of the organisers of the Hervey Bay convoy and member of the local Safe Scooter Committee, Julie de Waard, said the lower speed limit endorsed at the Nationals conference was "dangerous".

She warned restricting the speed limit to 6kph would make it difficult for riders to cross roads safely.

"They wouldn't get anywhere, at 10kph crossing a road is already dangerous," she said.

Too slow? And what speed do pedestrians average at road crossing?

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Re: Meanwhile, at the National's conference.

Postby uart » Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:19 pm

Thoglette wrote:Julie then goes on to endorse helmet laws for scooter users... :shock: :shock: :shock:
Wow, I never realiased that so many mobility scooter users suffered head injuries from sub 10 km/h collisions.

She should instead have called for mandatory shin-guards for pedestrians. :mrgreen:

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby BenGr » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:36 pm

fat and old wrote:On that linked article...



Too slow? And what speed do pedestrians average at road crossing?
I think a big factor is how long the transitions from footpath to road and back take, a wheelchair can't just hop the kerb.

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby gorilla monsoon » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:01 pm

Funny thing: I saw a jogger overtake a mob scooter on the shared path on Sunday morning so I don't think scooters can do those claimed speeds.
In fact I know they can't do those sorts of speeds because I was invited to take part in a mobility scooter race at the Hunter Valley Electric Vehicle Festival a few years ago. The track was about 200m long and with a slight uphill gradient. It took forever and I had to stick the foot out and start scooting it to get some mobility.
And finally, dare I say the 'R' word, mobility scooters are required to be registered in Tassie (or they were a few years ago at least) so let's not get too carried away with calls for controls.
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Bunged Knee » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:26 pm

gorilla monsoon wrote: And finally, dare I say the 'R' word, mobility scooters are required to be registered in Tassie (or they were a few years ago at least).
I think that you meant it for Queensland not Tassie. Queensland required it to be registered and no fees needed.
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby Cheesewheel » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:50 pm

Bunged Knee wrote:
gorilla monsoon wrote: And finally, dare I say the 'R' word, mobility scooters are required to be registered in Tassie (or they were a few years ago at least).
I think that you meant it for Queensland not Tassie. Queensland required it to be registered and no fees needed.
It must help the police track them down when they tear through red lights and other members of the public take note of their rego plate
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Re: Meanwhile, at the National's conference.

Postby jillybean » Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:16 am

uart wrote:
Thoglette wrote:Julie then goes on to endorse helmet laws for scooter users... :shock: :shock: :shock:
Wow, I never realiased that so many mobility scooter users suffered head injuries from sub 10 km/h collisions.

She should instead have called for mandatory shin-guards for pedestrians. :mrgreen:
Some context here - there have been a couple of incidents in Hervey Bay where scooter riders have been hit while on pedestrian crossings. As with a cyclist being hit, it is the speed of the vehicle doing the striking that matters. Many of our local mobility scooter users (and we have HEAPS of them) are already wearing helmets voluntarily.
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:29 am

The main cause of transportation deaths is collision with a motor vehicle. Perhaps that's where the senator should focus
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby gorilla monsoon » Wed Sep 13, 2017 3:46 pm

Bunged Knee wrote:
gorilla monsoon wrote: And finally, dare I say the 'R' word, mobility scooters are required to be registered in Tassie (or they were a few years ago at least).
I think that you meant it for Queensland not Tassie. Queensland required it to be registered and no fees needed.
Possibly Queensland. I'm no expert but I do remember my late stepfather having his mobility scooter registered. In Tassie.
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby gorilla monsoon » Wed Sep 13, 2017 3:49 pm

mikesbytes wrote:The main cause of transportation deaths is collision with a motor vehicle. Perhaps that's where the senator should focus
Steady on, steady on. The senator is a man on a mission and reality does not enter into the discussion.
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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:26 pm

If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Mobility scooter users at 35kph, says senator

Postby find_bruce » Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:18 pm

There is a threat to pedestrians - no doubt the "pedestrian safety clowncil" will be straight onto that :roll:
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